Portsmouth counting the cost as bold Australia transfer experiment continues to frustrate
The highly-regarded Australians have missed 95 matches between them through injury at Fratton Park
They are the Australian poster boys spearheading Pompey’s recruitment model and global talent search.
Yet it’s injuries, rather than ability, which have so far frustratingly grounded the much-anticipated progress of Jacob Farrell, Hayden Matthews, Adrian Segecic and Thomas Waddingham.
While all have, undoubtedly, impressed at times over the last 16 months, the adjustment from A-League to the Championship has been more daunting physically than in terms of talent.
As a quartet, they have so far managed just 14 league starts for the Blues, totalling 36 appearances and four goals overall.
On the flipside, persistent injuries have ensured they’ve been unavailable for 95 matches between them.
Indeed, Matthews is the sole member of the Australian group currently free from injury, although John Mousinho hopes Segecic will be back from his ankle ligament problem for Saturday’s visit of Millwall.
Incidentally, despite being absent from the last four matches with the issue sustained against Coventry last month, Segecic remains this season’s top scorer with three goals.
Certainly, he’s the closest to regular first-team football at present - when fit. The 21-year-old has also comfortably proven to be Pompey’s best capture of the 11 players signed in the last transfer window.
Nonetheless, with all four currently aged between 20-22, their recruitment was regarded as exploiting a largely untapped Australian market, bringing in first-team ready players who, with the help of a Championship shop window, could be developed and sold on for generous profits.
At present, the progressive approach is creaking under the weight of injuries and immensely frustrating long-term absences.
Take Farrell, for instance, who has featured just twice since arriving from Central Coast Mariners in July 2024. A player who remains on the Australian national team’s radar to the extent they helped treat his recovery from knee surgery last summer.
Missing for 57 matches since joining Portsmouth
Irrespective of his ability, however, the player who turns 23 on Wednesday has missed a staggering 57 matches through injury during his time at the south coast.
That’s not including being overlooked for squad duty when fit at the start of this season, having failed to sufficiently impress during pre-season.
Indeed, Farrell was in contention against Sheffield Wednesday after Connor Ogilvie suffered a bang to the head in a collision with Nicolas Schmid against Southampton. He wasn’t successful on that occasion - then his groin problem flared up.
Apparently, it’s an issue which also impacted the defender last season, although primarily his injury in 2024-25 was a knee ligament injury which eventually required an operation in January.
Farrell recovered from that and featured in six of the summer friendlies, although was an unused substitute against PEC Zwolle.
Now the recurring groin complaint has sidelined him for the last 10 matches, plus 47 last season, with still no timeframe for his return - in a period when the Blues don’t have a fit left-back.
Three different injuries in 11 months
Waddingham has suffered a similar catalogue of injuries, despite enjoying the perfect start after netting on his debut when he came off the bench at West Brom in January.
He has subsequently been laid low during various periods by groin, hamstring and now thigh injuries, costing him potentially 22 matches overall.
Of his 10 outings to date, he featured in each of the opening five fixtures this season, starting the Carabao Cup defeat to Reading, before injury struck ahead of Southampton.
In September, Mousinho put his timeframe at 12 weeks. That was modified a fortnight ago to ‘another 6-8 weeks’, potentially keeping him out until the early part of January.
Injuries aside, Waddingham had looked promising and scored four goals during pre-season, including the winner in the 1-0 victory over PEC Zwolle in the final friendly.
£1.2m man’s impressive introduction
Matthews looked impressively at home in English football following his debut against Millwall in January, days after his £1.2m arrival from Sydney FC.
He subsequently featured in six successive Championship games, both in terms of starts and substitute appearances, only to damage ligaments in his right ankle against QPR.
The centre-half would miss the final 12 games of last term, yet returned in pre-season and has been available for every match of the current campaign, being named in 15 of the 16 squads so far.
However, his three starts in 2025-26 have produced defeat to League One Reading, an own goal presenting Stoke with victory, and the 4-0 drubbing at Birmingham. Certainly the 21-year-old has still to recapture last season’s form.
Tellingly, with Mousinho lining up with three central defenders in the last matches, Matthews was excluded, despite the ongoing absence of hamstring victim Conor Shaughnessy.
Finally there’s Segecic, who left the pitch in tears against Coventry after collecting an ankle injury just 10 minutes having been introduced as a second-half substitute.
Certainly his impending boost would be a big return for Pompey - and huge for the Australian contingent who just cannot get going in English football.